[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5300 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5300
To ensure the transparency and integrity of casualty accounting and
benefits and awards for military and civilian personnel during military
operations, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 6, 2026
Ms. Duckworth (for herself, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Peters, Mr. Hickenlooper,
Ms. Hirono, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Gallego, Ms.
Baldwin, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Warren, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Kim, Ms.
Alsobrooks, Mr. Fetterman, Mr. Schatz, and Ms. Rosen) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To ensure the transparency and integrity of casualty accounting and
benefits and awards for military and civilian personnel during military
operations, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Honoring the Sacrifice of Troops in
War Act of 2026''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) every member of the Armed Forces who dies or is wounded
in hostilities is entitled to be counted, by name and in
number, in the casualty records of the operation in which the
member served;
(2) the United States Government owes to the fallen, to
their families, and to history a complete, honest, and
permanent accounting of every member of the Armed Forces killed
or wounded in the service of the Nation, and no administrative
reclassification may be permitted to obscure the human cost of
war;
(3) accurate and complete casualty statistics are essential
to the accountability of the executive branch to the American
people and to the exercise by Congress of its constitutional
powers to declare war, to raise and support Armies, to provide
and maintain a Navy, and to appropriate funds;
(4) no reporting category, accounting methodology, or
assertion that hostilities have ceased may be used to conceal
from Congress or the American people the human cost of the
military operations of the United States; and
(5) no false assertion that hostilities have ceased nor
arbitrary termination of the designation of an active
contingency operation may be used to deny servicemembers, their
families, or Department of Defense civilian employees the
benefits and awards they are due for their support to active
military operations.
SEC. 3. CONTINGENCY OPERATION DEFINED.
In this Act, the term ``contingency operation'' has the meaning
given the term in section 101(a)(13) of title 10, United States Code,
as amended by section 4 of this Act.
SEC. 4. INTEGRITY OF TIME PERIODS OF CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS.
Section 101(a)(13) of title 10, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as clauses
(i) and (ii), respectively;
(2) by striking ``The term'' and inserting ``(A) The
term''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(B) The Secretary of Defense may not redesignate, rename,
or reclassify an ongoing designated contingency operation if
the facts and circumstances on the ground at the time and place
of the potential reclassification meets the criteria of
subparagraph (A)(ii) and involve members of the Armed Forces
involved in military actions, operations, or hostilities
against the same enemy of the United States or opposing
military force against which the original operation was
conducted, including during or following an announced
ceasefire, diplomatic negotiation, or change in operational
phase.''.
SEC. 5. INTEGRITY OF CASUALTY RECORDS AND STATISTICS.
(a) In General.--Subchapter I of chapter 75 of title 10, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 1472. Casualty records and casualty statistics: integrity;
prohibition on manipulative reclassification
``(a) Public Record and Proper Attribution of Casualties.--(1) The
Secretary of Defense shall publish and update as frequently as
practicable statistics about covered casualties and shall ensure that
each covered casualty is attributed, in each casualty record and in
each publication of casualty statistics of the Department of Defense
(including the Defense Casualty Analysis System), to each specific
military operation in support of which the member of the Armed Forces
or civilian official concerned was serving at the time of the casualty.
``(2) Except as provided in subsection (b)(2), a covered casualty
attributed to a designated military operation shall remain so
attributed in the casualty records and cumulative casualty statistics
of the Department of Defense. The establishment of a successor or
additional designated military operation, or of any new or revised
reporting category, shall not operate to remove, transfer, or reduce
any attribution previously made.
``(b) Prohibition on Manipulative Reclassification.--(1) Except as
provided in paragraph (2), the Secretary of Defense may not direct any
component of the Department of Defense to modify a casualty record,
reclassify a covered casualty, or change the casualty status or
operation attribution of a covered casualty, or restart, reset, or
rebase any cumulative count of casualties if the basis for doing so is
a redesignation, renaming, or reclassification of an ongoing designated
contingency operation that--
``(A) meets the criteria of section 101(a)(13)(B) of this
title; and
``(B) involves members of the Armed Forces in military
actions, operations, or hostilities against the same enemy of
the United States or opposing military force against which the
original operation was conducted, including during or following
periods of an announced ceasefire, diplomatic negotiation, or
change in operational phase.
``(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply to a modification of a casualty
record that--
``(A) corrects a demonstrable error of fact concerning the
individual casualty, including an error as to the identity,
unit, duty status, location, or cause of death or injury of the
member concerned;
``(B) is documented in writing, including the specific
facts establishing the error; and
``(C) is not based, in whole or in part, on a change in
policy, methodology, or the structure or presentation of
reporting categories, or on any assertion described in
subsection (c).
``(c) Asserted Cessation of Hostilities.--A covered casualty may
not be excluded from attribution to a designated military operation,
and may not be removed or transferred from such an attribution, on the
basis of any assertion, determination, announcement, or agreement,
whether by the President, the Secretary of Defense, any other officer
or employee of the United States, or a foreign government, that
hostilities associated with the operation have ceased, concluded,
paused, or diminished, if the facts and circumstances on the ground at
the time and place of the potential reclassification met the criteria
of section 101(a)(13)(B) of this title and involve members of the Armed
Forces in military actions, operations, or hostilities against the same
enemy of the United States or opposing military force against which the
original operation was conducted.
``(d) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Covered casualty.--The term `covered casualty' means,
with respect to a member of the Armed Forces--
``(A) the death of the member while serving on
active duty, or while serving in support of, or in the
area of operations of, a designated military operation;
or
``(B) a wound or injury of the member incurred in
combat operations in the circumstances described in
subparagraph (A).
``(2) Casualty record.--The term `casualty record' means
any record of the Department of Defense documenting the death
of a member of the Armed Forces or civilian official, or a
wound or injury of such an individual, including any record in
the Defense Casualty Analysis System or any individual casualty
report.
``(3) Designated military operation.--The term `designated
military operation' means a military operation to which the
Secretary of Defense or the commander of a command has
officially designated a contingency operation under the
conditions of section 101(a)(13) of this title.''.
(b) Subchapter Heading.--The heading of subchapter I of chapter 75
of title 10, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
``SUBCHAPTER I--Death Investigations and Casualty Records''.
SEC. 6. RESTORATION OF CASUALTY RECORDS RELATING TO OPERATION EPIC
FURY.
(a) Restoration.--Not later than 30 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall restore all
casualty records and casualty statistics by the Department of Defense
modified since February 28, 2026, to comply with section 1472 of title
10, United States Code, as added by section 5 of this Act.
(b) Notice to Next of Kin.--Not later than 30 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall provide to
the primary next of kin of each deceased or wounded member of the Armed
Forces whose casualty record or operation attribution was modified
during the covered period written notice of the restoration of the
record or attribution required by subsection (a), and the reason for
such restoration.
(c) Covered Period Defined.--In this section, the term ``covered
period'' means the period beginning on February 28, 2026, and ending on
the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 7. INTEGRITY OF BENEFITS AND RECOGNITION DURING CONTINGENCY
OPERATIONS.
Section 991 of title 10, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsection (f) as subsection (g); and
(2) by inserting after subsection (e) the following new
subsection:
``(f) Prohibition on Alteration of Benefit Eligibility Based on
Administrative Redesignation of Contingency Operations.--(1) The
Secretary of Defense may not direct any component of the Department of
Defense to modify, adjust, shorten, extend, pause, reset, or otherwise
alter any deployment-related benefit eligibility if the basis for such
modification is solely a redesignation, renaming, or reclassification
of an ongoing designated contingency operation where the facts and
circumstances on the ground at the time and place of potential
redesignation meet the criteria of section 101(a)(13)(B) of this title
and members of the Armed Forces are involved in military actions,
operations, or hostilities against the same enemy of the United States
or opposing military force against which the original operation was
conducted, including during or following periods of an announced
ceasefire, temporary cessation of hostilities, diplomatic negotiation,
or change in operational phase.
``(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), deployment-related benefit
eligibility determinations shall continue to be calculated as if the
original designation of the operation remained in effect, except as
provided under paragraph (4).
``(3) Administrative changes to the naming, structuring,
categorization, or classification of an ongoing designated operation
shall not be considered a basis to alter the eligibility of any member
of the Armed Forces or civilian personnel for any benefit, including
awards or decorations, veterans' preference accrual, pay or leave
entitlement, deployment-related threshold, or contingency military
leave tied to service in that operation.
``(4) Nothing in this subsection prohibits adjustments to
eligibility windows when such adjustments are--
``(A) explicitly required by statute;
``(B) necessary due to a substantive change in operational
conditions, including commencement of hostilities against a new
enemy or opposing force; or
``(C) authorized under subsection (a)(3) pursuant to a
Secretary-approved deployment exception.
``(5) In this subsection, the term `designated military operation'
means a military operation to which the Secretary of Defense or the
commander of a combatant command has officially designated a
contingency operation under the conditions of section 101(a)(13) of
this title.''.
SEC. 8. RESTORATION OF BENEFITS AND RECOGNITION FOR MILITARY AND
CIVILIAN PERSONNEL SUPPORT TO OPERATION EPIC FURY.
(a) In General.--Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall restore all covered
benefits to members of the Armed Services and civilian personnel who
supported covered military operations since February 28, 2026, in order
to comply with subsection (f) of section 991 of title 10, United States
Code, as added by section 7 of this Act.
(b) Notice to Affected Personnel.--Not later than 30 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall
provide to each member of the Armed Forces or civilian personnel whose
covered benefits were modified during the covered period written notice
of the restoration of benefits required by subsection (a), and of the
reason for such restoration.
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Covered benefits.--The term ``covered benefits'' means
benefits to which members of the Armed Forces and civilian
personnel who support covered military operations are entitled,
including Department of Defense awards or decorations,
veterans' preference accrual, contingency military leave, or
other benefits associated with special pay, leave, and tax
authorities in titles 10, 37, and 5, United States Code, the
Department of State Standardized Regulations, Internal Revenue
Service combat zone regulations, and Office of Personnel
Management policies that are triggered by the statutory
definition of a contingency operation.
(2) Covered period.--The term ``covered period'' means the
period beginning on February 28, 2026, and ending on the date
of the enactment of this Act.
(3) Covered military operations.--The term ``covered
military operations'' means United States military activities
against Iran from February 28, 2026, until the date of the
enactment of this Act.
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